Over the last several years there has been a stream of Sentinel Tribune letters addressing the question,
What should we do with the empty space left by the destruction of the BG Jr. High School? What’s
surprising about the letters is that they all argue for a downtown Central Park or Boston Common,
without opposition. No disagreement. No counter argument. So, why aren’t we all working on converting
that space into a useful, beautiful and multi-faceted Wooster Green that would enrich our economic,
artistic, epicurean, social, political and cultural lives?
The letters offer a consistent message, that there are goals a city center called Wooster Green can
achieve:
1. Building a sense of community with access to all citizens that draws us together in a variety of forms
and for a variety of purposes.
2. Offering a third place, after home and work, Wooster Green would give us a chance to gather
voluntarily and get to know and appreciate people whose daily lives and points of view differ from our
own.
3. Providing what citizen John Calderonello calls "shared stewardship and mutual decision
making."
Happily our town, over the last forty-three years of my stay, has seen these new sensibilities enhanced,
breaking down civic separation and indifference. Of course, the social networks that community gathering
provides are good, increasing individual well being, productivity and trust. In our town we see service
organizations like Rotary, Exchange and Kiwanis, eateries and bookstores like Grounds and Panera, social
networks like churches, the library, senior center, organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and
Downtown BG in full force.
In a letter to the Sentinel that we have not yet seen, the 500 pound elephant in the room is the
question, Will the Wooster Green space we’ve imagined be needed for a new city administration building
instead? Obviously, the letter writers would prefer to see a new city building occupying some other city
space already empty – the list starts with the leasable Huntington Bank, then moves onto the old
Huntington Bank building, and the Woodlands Mall. So, Wooster Green’s time has come: A public forum
involving all BG residents voicing their opinions is a good place to start.
Tom Klein
Bowling Green